Thursday, April 11, 2019

Despite the long-standing status of The Grill on the Alley (30 years!), especially the original Beverly Hills location, I actually have not dined there until recently, when I was invited for a lunch at the Westlake Village location.

The Grill on the Alley is a white tablecloth American steakhouse, so naturally we started lunch with some shrimp cocktails. Leave it to The Grill to get some fresh jumbo shrimp. Sometimes shrimp cocktail sauce is too tangy for me, but this one was nicely balanced.
We also got some oysters on the half shell.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

There's a burger and bar joint in Brookline that went under my radar because of the rather generic name, Best Burger Bar. However, I was invited to try the place not too long ago and was quite pleasantly surprised! The restaurant opened last summer in 2017.

Best Burger Bar specializes in dry aged burgers, which gives it that extra umami flavor, and they only use certified Angus beef. They also have an outdoor dining area / porch that's open throughout the summer. Get some burgers paired with a Margarita Fishbowl for two ($29.50). The fish bowl has tequila, lime, blue curacao, orange curacao, and sesame syrup.
Their burgers start with a classic for $5.99 and go up from there depending on the ingredients. For the quality of meat they use, this is a good bang for your buck in Boston.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Grafton Group, which has a good hold on Harvard Square with restaurants like Russell House Tavern and Grafton Street, opened another spot last year.
The Hourly is a seafood-focused restaurant. It was named after the horse-drawn carriages that used to transport people from Cambridge to Boston on the hour back in the day - in 1826. The cozy patio features a painting that shows one of the "hourly'.

I recently attended a blogger tasting at The Hourly and tried some of their most popular offerings.

We started with some raw East Coast oysters served with fennel mignonette. Among the oysters we tried were from Cuttyhunk - an island off of Martha's Vineyard, Island Creek oysters from Duxbury, Mookie Blues from Maine, and Warren's Cove from Plymouth, MA.
The oysters were paired with some Tuck Bekstoffer Hogwash Rose of Grenache from Napa. This was just one of the fun wines that they offer at The Hourly.
Next we had some New England clam chowder paired with Barrel House Z's Sunny and 79' Pilsner (MA)
We had a small cup of the chowder to taste, but of course, the regular order is a full bowl. The Hourly also makes their own saltine crackers for the chowder, which was filled with chunks of clams. The beer is quite a unique one. It is a ginned pilsner made using juniper berries and it was aged in used tequila barrel. They paired this with the chowder because tequila works well with seafood.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Barking Crab is a tourist spot but it's also an institution in Boston's Fort Point. It's a casual seafood spot - in a tent with a view of the water and the city of Boston. With that New England clam shack-like setting and the faux grass in a heated tent, Barking Crab is a meeting place that feels like summer all year long.

Just like a seafood shack would, drinks are served in plastic cups. Moscow mules, mojitos, and other refreshing drinks are available - they tend on the sweet and strong side.

Obviously, I had to try the crab at Barking Crab. They offer three types and I chose the one I haven't had before: Bairdi crab ($31)

Monday, July 6, 2015

Belle Isle Seafood in Winthrop has been featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, and it's not that far from the Boston Logan Airport. I decided to check it out after picking up my cousin from the airport. The restaurant was bigger than I expected, with a view of the boats and water. We placed our order and waited for the food. That lobster buzzer they gave us is so cuute!

Of course, we ordered the lobster roll. They serve it Maine style with mayo and lettuce here.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Ahh, summer in New England. That only means one thing, lobster shacks!! I visited quite a few lobster shacks in Maine (including Bite Into Maine) and Connecticut last summer, including The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport, ME, which won Tasting Table's Lobster Roll Rumble in New York one year.

We got a whole steamed lobster (for only $12!), a lobster roll, a crab roll, and an order of steamers.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Neptune Oyster is a small seafood restaurant in the North End, and one of the most popular in town. If you don't get there early enough, waits can go up to over an hour! Luckily, we came pretty early and got seated before too long.

Since the place is called Neptune Oyster, we obviously had to start with some oysters. They have one of the bigger selections in town. This time, we tried 4 different oysters from the area: Katama Bay (Edgartown, MA), Thatch Island (Barnstable, MA), Browne's Point (Damariscotta, ME), and Summerside (Bedeque Bay, PEI)

Everything was extremely fresh - I think I liked the Summerside the best from this batch.

Neptune is famous for their lobster roll: Maine Lobster roll, hot with butter ($27)

It's one of the most expensive in the city, but also one of the best. It's served on a buttery brioche bun, and the lobster is soaked in hot butter. It's so rich, the bread gets drenched and the roll becomes messy, but you won't care as you devour it.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Kennedy's On The Square is a popular tavern in Harvard Square. The decor sticks to the name, with JFK-related photos and memorabilia on the walls.

They've recently launched a new menu and invited a bunch of local bloggers to try it.

Between more than a dozen of us, we tried quite a bit of food. Here are some of my favorites from the menu:
Smoky meatballs with house-aged ground beef, veal, pork, sun-dried marinara, shaved parmesan ($11)

Thursday, October 16, 2014

There are plenty of lobster to be had in Boston, but where to have one affordably? Well, the cheapest would be the Chinese restaurants, but if you want them traditional style, then James Hook is one of the best values in town.

I took my aunt and cousins there and ordered whole steamed lobsters (tip: there is a small parking lot where you can park for free!)

A whole steamed 1.5 lb lobster went for $20 here when I came (on July 4). Actually, you pay $22 when you order but they will refund you $2 in cash when you return the crackers (funny story: my aunt misunderstood and tried to return the oyster crackers that came with our chowder!).

Thursday, October 9, 2014

When I was looking for lobster rolls near Portland, I had bypassed Bite Into Maine food truck because I thought it'd be harder to find. Little did I know I would come across it anyway, and so might most of you. It said that the truck parks at Fort Williams Park. I didn't know where or what that was, but apparently it's the park where Portland's most famous landmark resides: the Portland Head Light. You would've come across a photo of the lighthouse while reading about Maine.

Most of you will visit this lighthouse, and when you do, be sure to try Bite Into Maine. So far (and I know I have many left to go, but still), it is my favorite lobster roll in Maine!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

A lobster roll tour of Maine is never ending. There are so many famous spots to hit up. I've made two trips to Maine and I've only hit a few of them!

My first stop in Maine was Eventide Oyster Co. in Portland, Maine. The lobster roll at Eventide is non-traditional. You can choose between Hollandaise, housemade mayo, or brown butter, but the bun they use is similar to a Chinese bao.
The lobster was fresh and the house mayo excellent, to be sure, what I didn't quite dig the soft Chinese-bun like roll with the lobster meat. I preferred the contrast of a toasted bun with my lobster.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

There are plenty of happy hours in Los Angeles, but where would you find caviar on the happy hour menu? Well, at Petrossian - the renowned caviar purveyor - of course you would. For happy hour drinks you can get either the caviar cocktail or vodka at a discounted price, or $6 wines.

Let's talk about the food! Last year I put Petrossian's lobster roll as one of the best bites I had that year. The lobster roll was topped with sea urchin and caviar!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Sundays in Pasadena are going to get exciting with Vertical Wine Bistro's newly launched Sunday Suppers! The new Sunday Supper menu, which started this past Sunday, is $25 and includes a whole steamed Maine lobster, among other items. I'm not kidding and it's quite a deal!

The supper starts with an Iceberg Wedge salad with ranch dressing

Crisp iceberg lettuce to get things going ...

Then, the main attraction: a whole steamed Maine lobster. One of the claws had been used for the lobster and shrimp roll. They come with a cup of lobster bisque and corn on the cob.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

It's almost the end of the year and looking back at 2013, I've certainly had many great meals! Here's a look at what I remembered to be the best bites in Los Angeles in the past year. Because the list only covers LA, it doesn't include the absolutely amazing kouign amann at B Patisserie, but you should definitely try that if you're in San Francisco. These also only include the things I tried for the first time in 2013, so while there are many great dishes in LA they may not be on this list. Also, I'm bound to have missed a few things due to my failing memory, so feel free to add what you think is the best bite in the comments!

In no particular order:

1. Uni Caviar Lobster roll at Petrossian
Chef Giselle Wellman has devised the ultimate lobster roll, topped with fresh uni and Petrossian caviar on a brioche roll. While the lobster roll and fries aren't cheap, each bite will assure you that it's worth it.

Monday, October 15, 2012

King's Hawaiian Bakery was started by Robert Taira, the father of the current president, Mark, first as a stand alone bakery in Hawaii in Hilo in 1956. The family then moved to Honolulu and opened up the bakery on King Street. All the family worked at the bakery and tourists were buying them as souvenirs. The round bread was the number 1 fundraising item on the island. Mark's grandma then had the great idea of starting a mail order service and demand for King's Hawaiian bread kept growing into what it is now - a big factory in Torrance, California where they still produce bread with Robert's original recipe.

I was invited to tour the factory recently, and of course I'm not going to say no to such an opportunity!

Part of this tour involved some confidential information like the machines they use etc so not many pictures, sorry! But I was surprised at what a big operation this really was, from machines that cut and knead the dough to packaging it. The end of the line was a favorite, of course, with the smell of butter and fresh baked bread wafting in the air.

Of course, the best part was probably trying the rolls fresh off the line (we got the wheat rolls), just with butter! Can't beat this.

After the tour, we went out to their back lot for lunch! They've called in some of LA's best food trucks that serves or uses King's Hawaiian products, along with a whole spread of their own desserts. Mark's daughter Courtney experiments with different recipe using the bread in the factory kitchen including things like white chocolate chip bread pudding and garlic cheese bread. Some of the desserts we had are served at their restaurant, and also their newer fast casual restaurant, The Local Place. The Tres Leches cake and the bread pudding was my favorite.

I immediately went for Lobsta Truck's lobster roll, which is served on toasted King's Hawaiian sweet hot dog bun! I've always loved their lobster roll!

The Kogi Truck does their sliders using King's Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls. Both their short rib and tofu sliders were crowd favorites.

When we left, they told us they had a parting gift for us. I was expecting a bag, maybe one or two packages of their bread. But noooo. This is the Aloha spirit after all! Our parting gift was a huge box of goodies, so big that I needed help carrying it to the car! Enough bread to last me months, coffee, cookies, apron, gift card, etc ... Jealous? I bet. Want one? They're actually giving away a box to one of my readers too! The contents won't be exactly the same but you can be sure they will be as generous. Check back tomorrow for a new post for the giveaway! :)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

I'm not one to chase down food trucks, but I've been curious about the Lobsta Truck for a while since all my friends and fellow food bloggers seem to love it (one Boston transplant says that it's legit). My chance to try it came when they parked outside of Scoops Westside one Tuesday evening.

They were already out of the crab roll by the time I got there, so my companion and I got one of each lobster roll: with mayo or with butter. Apparently, for Bostonians, the proper way to eat a lobster roll is with mayo (celery and pepper optional).

Thursday, August 19, 2010

A recent work-related meeting brought me to Boston, but alas I was stuck pretty much next to the Prudential most of the time where I can either spend $100 on lunch or eat mall food. Luckily, there is a Summer Shack right across the street. It's time for Ipswich clam bellies and lobster roll!

Food still isn't cheap here, but since I'm in Boston I might as well try them.

The dinner portion for the Ipswich belly clams come with fries and cole slaw and runs for $23.The difference between this style of fried clams is that the whole belly, i.e. the whole gastrointestinal tract, of the clam is left intact. This gave a deeper, much earthier flavor to these fried clams. Since I've never had them before I can't tell you how good these are compared to other Ipswich belly clams in Boston, but it is clear that for Bostonians, having fried clams without the belly on will not even be close to the real thing.

The Summer Shack Lobster Roll is made from meat of a 1lb lobster and costs $20.The bun was the weakest point in this roll but the chunky fresh lobster meat was pretty satisfying. Having tried some lobster rolls in LA with LAist's Sam Kim for his "Roll Call" I'd like to claim I know a little bit more about them than I do about belly clams. Here the mayo wasn't too thick and I enjoyed the chunks of cucumbers in the roll as well, but with that bun I can only consider them comparable to LA's lobster rolls.